Yugioh: A Vacation From Magic
by Zack Hiwatari-Chan
Summary: The Sequel to Yugioh: Enter the Wizarding world. The group is looking forward to a break from the chaos of the school year, but are unaware of what is to come. No one's heard from Harry yet this summer, but Their troubles are only just beginning!
1. The Vacation Begins

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Alright! you all know the drill, this is the Sequel to Yugioh: Enter the Wizarding World. I hope you enjoy this chapter and this story. I'm sorry if any of you were disappointed with my portrayal of the characters near the ending of the last story. I'll try to keep their fairly even in ability this time.**

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><p>Yugi smiled to himself as he helped unpack some things in his Grandfather's shop. Summer was always a big time for business so Yugi helped out whenever he could. He had yet to finish his summer homework, due to spending the last few weeks helping his grandpa with the shop and unpacking the new shipments of Duel monster cards. It wasn't hard work, but it was time consuming.<p>

_'Yugi, you should take a break. You've been working for hours.'_ Yami frowned appearing next to Yugi.

Yugi laughed. _'Yami I'm fine, these boxes aren't too heavy, and besides it's not like the cards are going to come alive and attack me when I'm unpacking them!'_ He joked.

_'You can never be too sure; a rouge shadow monster could attack.' _Yami said, taking Yugi's joke seriously. The so far so peaceful vacation was making the Spirit Paranoid.

_'And Risk your wrath? I don't think so.'_ Yugi chuckled. _'But if you're so eager to give me a break, why don't you come out and help move some of the heavier boxes?'_

Yami blinked_. 'Uh . . . Well if it's the only way to get you to take a break. . .'_ Yami was not fond of work, but if Yugi truly wanted him to. . .

_'Relax Yami.'_ Yugi laughed_. 'I wasn't serious.'_ At that moment Seto's owl Athena flew in through the open window, multiple letters attached to her leg. _'Besides, Now I have a reason to take a break.'_ Yugi grinned untying the letters from the owl's leg. Seto had forwarded Yugi letters from Ron and Neville.

_'Hey Yugi,_

_Everything is going great this side of the world. I've been dueling with Ron a lot, and we're both getting much better! I completed most of my summer homework, but the potions and Transfiguration assignments are really confusing me. Other than that, everything's been pretty calm compared to the last year._

_Oh! I almost forgot, have you heard from Harry? No one else has and I'm getting pretty worried._

_Anyway I'll see you in august I guess._

_Neville'_

Yugi grinned. _'Looks like this really _will _be a vacation!'_ After the last school year, Yugi had been suspicious about what summer would have in store. But it seemed they we're finally getting that break that they so very much deserved, if next year was going to be as crazy as last year, the definitely needed one.

_'So it would seem.'_ Yami agreed, he had been reading over Yugi's shoulder. _'But, trouble follows us around like a Cerberus puppy begging for attention . . .'_ Yami had no doubts that something would happen. For the spirit highly doubted that something as mundane as summer vacation would stop trouble from brewing.

_'So true. . .'_ Yugi sighed, he couldn't argue with the Spirit's logic. _'I'm going to read the one from Ron; maybe he's got better news.'_ Yugi certainly hoped he did.

_'Yugi, _

_I'm starting to get really worried, I haven't heard from Harry all summer! Hermione hasn't either . . .no one here has come to think of it. Have you? Other then the fact that Harry's gone AWOL, everything is pretty sweet here. No trolls, or three headed dogs, or dark lords, or anything dangerous! Lucky break huh? I was sure that something awful would happen right away, maybe our lucks finally turning around eh?_

_If you hear from Harry, Send me a letter right away!_

_Ron'_

Yugi frowned. _'That's odd, no one's heard from Harry since summer began. You don't suppose he's gotten into any trouble have you?'_ Yugi asked Yami worried.

_'I don't know what to think at this point. I can only assume that Harry is fine, as I've not sensed anything leave the shadow realm lately.' _Yami admitted

_'Well, I'll try sending another letter. Maybe he just hasn't been getting them?'_Yugi suggested worriedly.

_'That is a possibility.' _Yami agreed, hoping that Yugi was right. He'd hate to not be there to protect one of Yugi's friends.

_'I'd better go and write them back. Seto will probably want Athena to return to him as soon as possible.' _Yugi said, knowing how much Seto cared about those close to him. He would be worried if Athena was away too long.

Yami nodded and trailed behind Yugi as he went to his room to find a pen and paper to write with.

_'Dear Ron,_

_I'm sorry to say, I haven't heard anything from Harry either. But don't worry too much; I'm sure we'll get a hold of him eventually though. And if not, we'll still see him on the Hogwarts express. _

_Oh just a heads up, you might not hear from me for a while, I'm entering a duel Monsters tournament. So I'll be pretty busy for the next few weeks._

_Hope to hear from you soon,_

_Yugi'_

Yugi put that letter in an envelope and addressed it. His letter to Neville said very much the same thing. After securing the letters to Athena's leg, he went back to the store room to finish unpacking.

Yami frowned. _'Is it truly just a matter of not receiving our letters? Or is it something more? Harry has never spoken of his home life; perhaps it is not as pampered as the Wizarding world believes. . .' _Yami mused to himself, or it would have been to himself, if he had remembered to close the mind link.

_'Yami stop being so deep and thoughtful,'_ Yugi laughed. _'I need your help down here!'_

_'What's going on?'_ Yami blinked there was a lot of noise coming from Yugi's side of the link. Yami Relaxed and allowed him to be pulled to Yugi's side. It was something he had discovered a few days ago, if he wished it, some sort of supernatural force would take him right back to The Puzzle, and by extension Yugi. Perhaps it was the fact that he was so closely linked to it, he wasn't sure.

When he got down stairs, he was greeted by the sight of a large group of local dueling fans, fighting over the last of the new booster packs that Yugi's grandfather had laid out that morning. Yami winced. _"Not again. . . Alright Yugi, let me take control."_ Yami said as he floated over to kneel down behind the counter where Yugi had momentarily taken shelter. In case the crowd started getting violent like that one last week. Yami had been a second away from gaming that group, if only Seto hadn't arrived and broken things up. Yami knew how to handle these situations better then the diminutive wizard. Even if his temper was shorter then Yugi was.

Yugi nodded_. 'Alright'_ He relinquished control to the Spirit, there was a soft flash of light as the change took place. The quarrelling crowd, naturally was too focused on getting the cards, and did not notice in the slightest.

Yami calmly stood up, and as if he was going to restock the front counter. He turned around and unlocked a cupboard with the key; only to find the air horn he had hidden there was gone. Yami had found it in Yugi's grandfather's old things while they had been cleaning out a backroom. Yugi must have hidden it, he mused. Instead he walked around the counter and easily moved between the arguing people and plucked the booster pack from the hand of the person who was holding it. The arguing stopped instantly. Yami headed back to the register.

"Hey what are you doing?" One girl asked as the crowd followed him curious. Yami ignored her until he was behind the register again.

"It's simple really." He said pleasantly. "No one get's these cards." Yami stated in the same pleasant tone as he opened a drawer and dropped the pack inside.

"WHAT?" No one was happy with his decision.

"If you're going to fight over them like Idiots, none of you deserve them. Come back tomorrow when the new shipment will be set out and there will be enough cards for everyone." Yami announced. "There are plenty of other booster packs to choose from. You don't _all_ need the new one." He said crossing his arms in irritation, and sending them a disapproving glare. His inspiration for such a thing had of course come from professor McGonagall.

There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. Some of them even hung their heads in shame.

"Now please, if you're not going to make a purchase, leave." Yami said with an air of finality.

_'I'll take over your shift for now Yugi.'_ Yami told his other self, who he could sense was exhausted from dealing with Customers. Less than half of the group of duelists left and the rest spread out around the store and looked at the cards and games that Yami would actually sell to them.

**Note!**

**Sorry for making you all wait so long for this. But I originally wanted to have this be a really long chapter with short check ins of everyone in our little group, but that was taking way too long to write. But I've already got chapter two done! And this story won't be too long, it will only chronicle the summer of our characters. The next story will take place during their second year.**


	2. Dueling, and Plotting

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>"Alright Nev, my Celtic Guardian attacks your life points directly." Ron stated with a grin. He and Neville dueled quiet often, considering Hermione was too busy to duel with them now that she was entering tournaments.<p>

Neville grinned happily. "I'm afraid not Ron." He flipped over his trap card. "I activate negate attack."

Ron groaned. "Alright I end my turn." He sighed and motioned for Neville to make his move. Neville drew a card.

Ron generally won their duels, but on days like today, Neville got lucky and was able to pull a win out of nowhere. Neville finished the duel by playing his ace monster, Gigaplant and wiping out Ron's life points.

"Good game Nev! What a lucky draw, I swore I had that in the bag!" Ron said grinning as he gathering up his cards and reshuffled them into a deck.

"You almost did." Neville admitted as he did the same. "If I hadn't drawn Gigaplant at that moment, you could have wiped me out next turn." It was at that moment they became aware that they were being watched. Ginny, Ron's little sister and her friend Luna Lovegood had been showing a lot of interest in the game. "Hey Ron, are you up for playing professor for a bit?" Neville grinned motioning to Ginny and Luna. The two girls were, not so stealthily watching their game.

Ron grinned. "Well I've got nothing better to do. So let's get too it!" Ron liked Duel monsters quite a bit, and seriously hoped it caught on in the Wizarding world.

As it turned out, Ginny and Luna were fast learners. It didn't take long for the two girls to understand the game as well as they did. Though, then came the problem of them not having decks. Neville decided to write Ryou and Hermione as soon as he got home. The other Gryffindor's could show them around the muggle world, and it was a much better option than trying to remember the way to that 'mall' Ryou had shown him too last December. Getting lost in the muggle world was a scary thought.

It was then that Ron's twin brothers ran into the room. The grins on their faces were enough to send Luna and Ginny running, but Ron and Neville noticed the Water Balloons in their hands much too late. The two soon to be second year boys found themselves soaked with water. "I'm going to kill Hermione for sending those to them." Ron growled.

Neville sweat dropped. "Well you did call her a Know it all in that last letter. . ." Granted that had been because she was pressuring Ron to get his homework done. Still, Hermione had a vicious side and as it turned out, had no problems with going to the twins to get revenge. Of course, the twins had no problem with getting revenge on Ron and pulling pranks on the rest of the people around them either.

The twins had had made a point of sending a thank you letter saying that Hermione was off limits for pranks, at least until march of next year, granted that she provide them with a few more water balloons before summers end.

Ron and Neville went to the only people they could for help. Ginny and Luna were more than happy to lend their help and become a neutral party in what the two girls hoped would soon become an all out prank war. Unfortunately, this was highly improbable considering who this house was in control of. And what she would do to them if they dared try and pull it off.

Later, Ron and Neville were hiding out in the orchard in case the twins came after them with more water balloons. Ron leaned against one of the trees and frowned, having a sudden thought. "Wait just a minute has _anyone _heard from Harry yet? It's been almost a month and none of us have heard from him. I mean, Harry's not the type to just not respond to our letter's right?" Ron was honestly starting to get worried. He had sent letter asking if Harry could come over a week ago, and so far he hadn't gotten a reply back.

Neville sighed. "I really don't know Ron. Harry might be away on a family vacation or he might be busy. If not, then something is wrong." Neville was, admittedly just as worried as Ron.

"I wish we could go over to his house and check, just to be sure." Ron added the last part quickly. He was pretty sure that Harry wouldn't back out on his promise to stay in contact.

"We don't know where Harry lives, well at least I don't. So it's not like we can just go and see him whenever we want." Neville pointed out. He had only been allowed to come over to Ron's so often by using Floo powder. Considering he didn't live close by like Luna did.

Ron groaned. "I know, I know! But I'll bet Hermione knows she's good at listening to people and finding out things! I bet she'd remember if Harry ever mentioned where he lived!" Ron grinned getting a in his opinion great idea. "That's it! We can ask Hermione if she knows and if she dose we can go see Harry! But we'll have to be sneaky about it . . ." Ron mused, there was just no way his mom or Neville's Gran would let them go off and see Harry without making plans with Harry's guardian's first. And somehow Ron didn't think they'd be very welcome to the idea.

Neville groaned. "Ron you're suggesting we go sneaking around behind everyone's backs, which almost got you killed in school!" He reminded. "We should just bring this up to your mum and let it go!" Neville liked his friends, he really did, but he didn't want to get mixed up in the danger that surrounded them all.

Ron sighed. "I guess you're right. Besides we don't even have a way to get to wherever Harry lives, since Harry lives with Muggles . . . ." Ron stopped suddenly getting another Idea. "The Car, my dad's car that is, we could use that!" Ron grinned and went on explaining his idea before Neville could protest. "Fred and George taught me how to drive it, so there's no problem there, and it can fly so we won't get pulled over by the muggle authorities." Ron was getting excited now. This might just work!

"Ron, that's really risky, if we got caught, we'd be dead and your dad would get in trouble with the Ministry! Plus what if Harry's not in any trouble and we're just overreacting?" Neville _really_ hoped they were just overreacting.

"Fine, we'll only use that plan as a last resort." Ron rolled his eyes. "But I'm still sending a letter to Hermione just in case!" Ron ran back towards the house to get started on that.

**Note!**

**And things start to get interesting.**

**Anyways, consider this your Christmas present, from me to you. Since it's Christmas eve, I figured today was as good a day as any to post the new chapter.**

**Try to leave me a review if your not all too busy hanging out with your families~**

**Merry Christmas!**


	3. Letters and more Plotting

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>Ryou Bakura was sitting in his living room reading a passage in his History of Magic textbook. He had been rather surprised by the amount of summer homework given to them. But he couldn't really complain. After the massive amount of studying they did before the end of the year exams, the assignments weren't that difficult. Ryou had already completed the transfiguration assignment, and he was saving the potions one for last.<p>

A pleasantly cool summer breeze in through the open window, and sunlight reflected off the Millennium Ring which lay on the Coffee table in front of him. The house was silent, unnaturally so, but it made sense in a way. Considering its only occupant was Ryou himself. His father was always away, ever since the accident. And that left Ryou alone, or as alone as one could be with the Spirit of the Ring around.

Though he had been receiving mail from his friends since the day after the summer holidays started, it came as a huge surprise when a gray owl crashed into the coffee table, spilling books and papers everywhere. The owl was an old, weak looking thing. It looked sort of like a molting feather duster actually. The owl was in fact the one that belonged to the Weasley's. There was a letter attached to its leg, which Ryou quickly took off and rushed to provide the exhausted owl with water. To Ryou's surprise the envelope was written, not in Ron's handwriting, but Hermione's. He opened it curiously.

_'Dear Ryou_

_I know this letter came rather suddenly, and by owl. I'm aware that I usually send you letters by regular mail or Email. But I figured this particular letter deserved to be sent as quickly as possible. So I borrowed Errol, the Weasley's owl. The reason I felt this owl was so important, is due to the fact that no one has heard from Harry since he left with his family from Kings Cross Station._

_Ron came up with a plan to check up on Harry, he lives in Surry I know that much. But, it's risky, and we could all get in a lot of trouble if we put it into action. Harry was always better with plans then us. But if Harry doesn't reply to one of us soon, I'm going to get desperate enough to try it. Neville agrees with me. We were just wondering if you would like to take part. We think we should have more than one person who knows the muggle world on board._

_Or at least I do. Ron seems to think that I can handle everything. Though, I have no idea when I'd have the time to help enact such a plan, considering my schedule is currently completely overtaken by Duel Monsters tournaments. . . . Oh well, send your reply as soon as possible._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Hermione'_

Ryou frowned; he reread the letter multiple times to be sure he understood. And yet, he still wasn't sure what to make of it. He knew that Harry's plans were usually very good, and made on the spot, with not much actual planning taking place. Then again, Ron was a great strategist and probably knew what he was doing. After all no one in their house could beat him in chess, that had to count for something right?

He sighed and went to get started on his reply. When Hermione asked for a reply 'as soon as possible' she usually meant reply as soon as you're decided. And Ryou was most certainly decided. If Harry really was in trouble, Ryou wanted to help. Even if they had gone and done some rash things at Hogwarts, Ryou trusted Hermione and Ron to come up with a plan that would work. And even if it didn't work exactly right, as long as the end result was the same, there wasn't any real problem.

He went to his room and dug around for some paper and a pen to write with while Errol was resting.

_'Dear Hermione_

_After receiving your letter I must say. It's worrying that Harry hasn't contacted any of us. But there are plenty of reasons that he might not. Though, it is possible that Harry's tendency for trouble has followed him outside of school._

_For that reason I will gladly assist you in whatever plan Ron has cooked up to check in on him. We all know that Harry won't ask for help, even if he needs it. You'll have to explain this plan to me in more detail, but I'll do what I can to help regardless. That reminds me, have you told Seto and Yugi about this plan yet? They'll want to know after all._

_In other news, I'm glad that you're having a lot of luck in tournaments. You're a very good duelist. I hope that I can come and see you duel sometime. But I've been rather busy with my own devices. Though, I suppose I can just wait until you all come over to see you duel. _

_I hope to see you soon as well_

_Ryou'_

Ryou grinned as he wrote the last paragraph. On the train ride back to the muggle world, they had all made plans to get together again before the summer ended. They had all agreed on coming over to Ryou's house. Ryou was hoping to have everyone play his favorite game, Monster World. But Duel Monsters was fun as well. Ryou like everyone else had received Duel Monster cards from Yugi that Christmas.

"Speaking of Monster world. . ." Ryou frowned and glanced at the Millennium Ring. Bakura had been quiet lately, too quiet. The Spirit usually did not leave him alone for so long, unless he was planning something. The last thing Ryou wanted was to put his friends in danger, but he was sure that with Yami there, Bakura wouldn't try anything. The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle was a powerful foe after all.

Ryou's thought process was interrupted by a kitchen timer going off. "Oh, Lunch is done." He commented to himself, and went to go take it out of the microwave. He wondered if Errol would like something to eat as well.

**Note!**

**And at the last possible minute, I give you, my faithful readers, a Second Christmas present!**

**Enjoy the chapter. ^_^ Drop me a review if you can, I always appreciate it.**

**I hope this fill all of you fellow Ryou-Fangirls hearts with joy! **

**Merry Christmas!**


	4. Paperwork and Brief Forshadowing

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>The room was, at first glance, a mess, files, letters, parchments, paper, schoolbooks and more were in piles on almost every available surface. Though, if you looked closer, you'd see that the piles were carefully organized by subject and importance. The stacks nearest the desk up against the wall currently held the attention of the restless twelve year old sitting in the expensive looking desk chair.<p>

Seto Kaiba had seen better days, his appearance was haggard at best and he hadn't slept in over three days. Sleep was, at this point a distant memory. He had expected work yes, but he found that he was at times unable to keep up with the flow of work. It seemed that whenever he got something done, two more projects appeared in its place. But as Yugi and Mokuba so constantly pointed out, Seto was adapting. He had gotten more work done in the last month then Hermione had the week before exams, and that was saying something.

Seto had a system, not a very good one, but a system none the less. He knew what projects he had to do, and when he had to do them by. Thus, he completed project after project trying to get everything done on time. It was becoming increasingly difficult to take time out of work to spend with Mokuba. Yugi and Mokuba had both offered, on separate occasions, to help him with some of the work. But he always turned them down. The stacks on the floor and the left side of the room were all completed work anyway.

He looked over the stacks that he had left. If he didn't take too many breaks, and stayed up all night, he might have it all done by tomorrow morning. Seto knew he wouldn't get any work done tomorrow, or the week after. Seeing as he was going to be attending the Intercontinental Duel monsters Championships. Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters would be there, and Seto had to a deal to propose.

You see, Seto had an idea, a fully completed Idea that his stepfather had turned down, but his new Duel Technology would revolutionize the way people played Duel Monsters. Seto would, by this time next year be the top duelist in the world. This wasn't a promise, it wasn't a vow. No it was a statement of fact. Nothing, not even Kaiba Corp would stop him from completing this goal. That goal was only second on his list to obtaining all four Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

Seto himself would be taking part in the tournament. It wasn't that he hadn't been invited of course. The reason he had fallen so behind in his work was because he had spent the first month of the Summer Holidays entering tournament after tournament and creating a reputation for himself. He was rising through the ranks quickly, at an unbelievable rate actually. He supposed that all those duels with Yugi had helped his already astounding natural talent at the game grow to even greater heights.

Speaking of rising through the ranks, Seto knew that Yugi and Hermione were climbing the ranks almost as quickly as he was. He was looking forward to the time when they would duel one another, they were at times worthy opponents. Yugi more so then Hermione he must admit. Yami had entered the local tournaments though, not Yugi. Seto knew that Yugi wasn't keen on playing professionally, but he had the skill. Even if the Spirit of the Millennium puzzle had the ability and luck to be a threat to him. Seto would rather face Yugi, who was someone Seto knew truly deserved to be one of the best. Not _the_ best of course. No that was Seto's place, and Seto's place alone.

"Okay, break time over." Seto muttered to himself, and got back to work. He'd have to cut down on breaks and stop getting sidetracked if he wanted to avoid a working 'vacation'.

Many hours later Mokuba forcibly dragged Seto out of his room to eat. "Come on Seto! Yugi brought over some fast food! I think he figured out that you hadn't eaten anything today when you didn't answer his phone calls." Mokuba joked.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I think I would have noticed if Yugi called." Though, truthfully if Yugi had called, Seto wouldn't have noticed. And Yugi was right; he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He had completed over half the remaining work. But there was still a lot more to do before the night ended.

Yugi had become a frequent visitor to the Kaiba estate since summer began. Whenever Yugi wasn't working at the shop or spending time with his grandfather, he was there. Yugi was hoping that Seto would, eventually accept his offer to help with his work. But keeping Mokuba Company and making sure Seto stopped to eat occasionally was good enough for now.

"So, what do you think you're going to learn next year?" Mokuba was always asking questions about Hogwarts. Mokuba had gotten a hold of Yugi's wand near the beginning of summer and toyed with it, resulting in a fire they almost didn't put out in time. This made it very obvious that the nine-almost-ten-year-old would join them at Hogwarts during their third year.

Seto shrugged. "We're not sure." He replied a bit distractedly. He had managed to snag a folder before Mokuba had dragged him away from his desk and was currently working on some paperwork as he ate.

"I think we might be moving onto more powerful spells in Defense against the Dark Arts." Yugi supplied helpfully. It was of course, simply stating the obvious. But it was the only real answer he could give.

Mokuba grinned. "That's still really cool! I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!"

The meal continued with most of the talking being done by Yugi and Mokuba. Once the food was gone Seto Mysteriously vanished, and neither Yugi nor Mokuba went looking for him. There was only one place Seto could have gone anyway. Yugi started to leave, reminding Mokuba to pack for his and Seto's trip to America. He only had tonight to pack after all. By this time tomorrow Seto and Mokuba would be in America.

But Mokuba insisted he stay the night, since it was so late already. Mokuba saw no reason for Yugi to go home. Seto was a bit distracted by work, but Mokuba made sure he knew what he was agreeing too.

The next morning could only be described as, unnecessarily hectic. Despite the fact that Seto seemed to have things under control, someone seemed to always be forgetting something or misplacing something. Yugi offered his help when he was able to but there wasn't much he could do. He could only stay until they departed for the airport, seeing as he had to get back to the game shop as soon as possible.

Things started to quiet down around early afternoon, just in time for lunch. Seto chose then to reveal that he was trusting Athena to Yugi for the week they would be gone. Yugi had at first been surprised by this, but Seto quickly explained that there was no one else to do so. And Athena would stand out in America.

"Plus it wouldn't be fair to make her deliver letters to England and Japan, and then come all the way to America." Mokuba added.

Yugi nodded in agreement, and promised to forward Seto's letters from the rest of the group by email. Yugi realized he was in for a rather boring week; he had finished his homework long ago. With the new school year coming up, there weren't going to be many customers at the shop. Everyone would be back to school shopping.

An hour and a half before the Kaiba brothers were set to leave for the airport Mokuba had an Idea. "Why don't you all just meet up in England? Seto, you wanted to find out why Harry wasn't responding to anyone's letters right? Then just go to England and meet up with everyone else. You can track down where he lives easy!" Mokuba grinned. "You can check up on harry and meet up with everyone else at the same time!"

Seto seemed to be asking himself why _he_ hadn't thought of that as he set out making plans. Seto was still sorting things out with Hermione by email as he and his brother boarded the Kaiba Corp Jet and hour and a half later.

**Note!**

**I'm aware that these chapters may not be the longest, but this is probably going to be the regular chapter length of most of my stories.**

**It means I can get chapters out faster. So I'm pretty happy with it. What about you?**

**But seriously, since you've read this chapter feel free to drop me a review. **

**^_^ Happy New Years Even Folks!**


	5. The London Regional Duel Monster Tourney

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Hermione Granger typed on her Net-book laptop, sending the email she had been writing a few moments later. She looked up to see that the duel was still going on. She was waiting for her turn to duel in the London regional Duel Monster championships. It was early august she only had three weeks before the end of summer vacation. And Hermione had made the most of her vacation so far. Entering tournament after tournament she had risen through the ranks. And from what she heard, so had Seto and Yugi.<p>

Speaking of Seto, he had just emailed her Harry's address. It was amazing what he could do now that he had the resources of Kaiba Corporation under his control. She smiled to herself, he was unaware of this at the moment, but Hermione was going to get to go and see them in Japan next summer. Her parents were going to get her the plane tickets to go and see them as a reward for making it to the London regional.

Hermione wasn't going to tell Seto about it, since it wasn't really official. It was actually more a suggestion by her parents. Things most likely would change around and get more complicated knowing them. Hermione wrote Harry's Address on a piece of scrap paper, she'd send it to Ron and Ryou later. The crowd suddenly cheered and Hermione forced hr attention back to the duel, which had just ended.

The next duelists were announced. "Hermione Granger verses Draco Black!" Hermione headed to the 'arena' which was just a table with two duel mats on it in the middle of the room. She wondered how many people there were with the name Draco. Hermione was pretty sure that it wasn't that common a name.

As it turned out, Draco Black was none other than Draco _Malfoy_. There was no mistaking the blond for anyone else, only a Malfoy could have that shade of blond hair. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Fancy meeting you here, Black?" She said this slowly; as if she couldn't quiet believe it. She was certain that under any other circumstances she wouldn't have remembered not to say his actual last name. "I didn't know you dueled." She added as she shuffled her deck.

"Well, I overheard Longbottom explaining it to some people over the Christmas Holidays. And it caught my interest." Draco replied in the same, cautiously civil tone. The awkwardness in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. He finished shuffling his deck and set it in the deck zone. Draco suddenly felt as though someone had smacked him upside the head.

_'At least answer her obvious question!'_ The voice scolded, sounding almost amused. It had been coming around more often since he started dueling. But he found that he didn't mind that as much as he should have.

"And in case you're wondering, Black was my mother's maiden name." Draco added quietly, so that only Hermione would hear.

Hermione set her Deck in the deck zone as well. "Interesting, funny thing is I had been wondering." She admitted. "But enough small talk, let's duel." That was what they both came there for after all.

Draco nodded in agreement. "Ladies first" He offered as he drew his first five cards. Hermione had also drawn her first five cards.

_'Oh, so outside of school you can be a Gentleman? Honestly, I can read your thoughts and I still don't understand you!'_ The Voice groaned. Draco got the impression that it was face-palming for some reason.

"Alright then, I draw." Hermione said, drawing a sixth card and adding it to her hand. "I'll set a Monster in defense mode and two cards face down." Hermione said as she set the cards down. It was always better to be safe the sorry when going first. Second turn got first attack after all.

Draco drew a card and added it to his hand without looking, as all of his attention was on the bored. He then turned to his hand with a calculating look. "A cautious first move bordering outright defensive actually. Not a very 'Lion-like' move is it Granger?" Again he got the feeling someone had just hit him upside the head. Draco mentally scowled. "But I suppose it's to be expected from someone with your intellect." Draco added quickly picking two cards from his hand and placing them in the spell and trap card zone. He sensed that the voice was smirking rather smugly. "I'll start off my turn by setting two cards face down and then I'll summon a T.A.D.P.O.L.E (Attack: 0/Defense: 0) in attack mode." Draco smirked. "That ends my turn."

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she drew another card. "You might want to rethink your strategy Black." She told him. "It's rather flawed. I summon Honest (Attack: 1100/Defense: 1900) in attack mode. And of course, he attacks your T.A.D.P.O.L.E, which due to it not having any attack points, not only is it destroyed, but you also take my monster's full attack points as the battle damage!" Hermione declared.

(Life point count Draco: 2900/Hermione: 4000)

Draco didn't seem to care. "I suppose you didn't know of my monster's effect then. When it's destroyed, my T.A.D.P.O.L.E's effect lets me add another one from my deck to my hand." Draco explained as he looked through his deck, added another T.A.D.P.O.L.E to his hand, and then shuffled his deck again.

_'You've got her right where you want her at this point. But be careful, a girl like Granger is dangerous, in more ways than one.'_ The Voice noted. It didn't seem to care that its opinion was not asked for or wanted in the slightest. Draco ignored it.

"I end my turn." Hermione stated, wondering just what Draco was planning. Certainly he couldn't have gotten this far if he wasn't an exceptional duelist.

Draco smirked. "I'll start things off by activating my face down spell card, Ookazi!"

Hermione groaned. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!" She knew that card. It didn't mean anything good for her, or her life points.

Draco grinned. "Oh Yes! You lose Eight hundred life points thanks to my spell! Next I summon my Beelze frog (Attack: 1200/Defense: 800) in attack mode. But his attack points won't stay the same for long. You see, for every T.A.D.P.O.L.E in my graveyard, my Frog gains three hundred attack points." Draco explained, very smugly. "So Instead of Twelve hundred, my frog has Fifteen hundred. Naturally, my frog attacks your Honest. And that brings the grand total of Damage calculation too. .. .?" Draco left off and let Hermione figure it out herself.

Hermione groaned. "Twelve hundred, I lose twelve hundred life points this turn." She sighed.

_'She's quick with math, probably due to the pre-Hogwarts muggle education she received. Wizards don't have that kind of education I've noticed.'_ The voice commented again, though this time it seemed that the voice was talking only to itself.

Taking this into account, Draco ignored it again. "That's right." Draco smirked. "And with that, I end my turn. We both know we've got talent, but which of us is better, me or you? Let's find out shall we?"

(LP Count Draco: 2900/Hermione: 2800)

Hermione sighed this was going to be a long duel. She could just tell. "Alright Black, you're on. No holding back." She smirked and drew another card. The very important thoughts of sending Harry's address to the others was now nowhere near the front of her mind. Her entire focus was on the duel.

**Note!**

**A short check in with our Favorite Witch, and a surprise appearance by everyone's favorite ferret!**

**Plus almost a duel! That's the first duel I've ever written so don't kill me if it sucks XD**

**Review, and don't worry, the new chapter will be out really really really soon!** **I can't wait to see what you all think of it! It's going to blow some minds for sure!**


	6. Rescues and Reunions

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>The following week The Kaiba Brothers returned to Domino City, briefly, to pick up Yugi. They then flew to England to meet up with the rest of the group and to check on Harry. There wasn't more than two weeks left in their summer and no one had heard from Harry even once. Even Seto was starting to get worried.<p>

By the time they got there, it was not even a whole day before Seto vowed to get a cell phone. Apparently they had missed something, something important while they were flying England. That something was the actual plan to 'spring' Harry from his relatives. Ron was now certain that they were evil and something was very wrong and was prepared to do any type of stupid thing to 'rescue' his best friend. This was proven when Hermione called up the Hotel and started screaming at him at two in the morning. Apparently, Ron and a panicking Neville had appeared in front of her window in Ron's father's flying car. And after much fighting and scolding, they had convinced Hermione to fly to Harry's house with them.

_"And you would not believe the condition we found him in!"_ Hermione's voice was seething with so much rage that Seto was sure he heard Neville squeak in fear in the background. _"Hedwig too, oh it was awful! His door was locked his room was a mess and I can just tell he hasn't been eating!"_ Hermione was ranting now. But Seto found that he really didn't care.

"What? That's abuse Hermione!" Seto growled. He had known just form looking at that family at the train station that they were trouble, but _abuse_? "Those Sons of a-" Seto had to cut himself off to refrain from using several words that Mokuba wasn't allowed to hear.

_"That's not even the worst of it I'm sure!"_ Hermione continued. _"There were _bars on his window _Seto! Bars! For the love of Merlin those, those, **THING**S can't even be considered human!" _Hermione was beyond furious.

"I believe you, and believe me. They won't be getting off lightly for this. "Seto said darkly. "Harry won't be going back there. Not if I have anything to say about it." Seto was sure Harry would try to write it off as not a big deal. But it was. It was a _very_ big deal. Seto had personal experience with awful adopted guardians and there was no way he was going to let one of his. . . Friends be the victim of it as well.

There was the sound of movement and the phone seemed to hit the ground. _"It's nothing! It's not as bad as Hermione's making it out to be!"_ Harry's voice was suddenly on the line. Hermione's indignant shriek was heard in the background. _"I swear! It wasn't that bad, the bars were nothing really, and I wasn't _starved_ exactly. . . ."_

There were even more sounds of fighting now, and Harry demanding that someone give him the phone back was heard in the background._"He was! Don't listen to him!"_ Ron had apparently wrestled the phone away from Harry. "_Harry was being treated worse than the Scummiest bastard in Azkaba-_Ow!" Seto had a feeling Hermione had just hit Ron over the head for swearing.

Hermione sighed; she had gotten the phone back from Ron it seemed. _"It's true though. Seto we've got to do something about this! Get over to Ryou's house right away so that we can figure out what to do!"_ Hermione ordered.

"Wait your at _Ryou's house_?" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Why are you there?" That was the last place he had expected them to be calling from.

_"Well we obvious couldn't go back to my house. My mum and dad would kill me if they found out I snuck out. Or that I had a bunch of my friends, my male friends, over without permission."_ Hermione stated as If it was the most obvious thing in the world. _"So after we got Harry, instead of going back to Ron's house and getting yelled at my Ms. Weasley for taking the car, we went to Ryou's to fill him in on what happened. You and Yugi should get over here right away."_ Hermione said, in a tone of voice that even Seto didn't want to argue with.

"Fine, Yugi and Mokuba are already awake and listening in on the conversation. We'll be over in half an hour tops." Seto sighed and hung up; he felt a headache coming on. This was quickly becoming too complicated for his tastes. They were supposed to be checking in on Harry, not rescuing him!

Yugi and Mokuba were already getting ready to go. And so, pushing all thoughts of going back to sleep from his mind. Seto started getting ready as well.

_~Meanwhile at Ryou's~_

"Seriously guys your blowing this way out of proportions!" Harry was trying, and failing to convince his friends that he wasn't being abused. "They thought that I ruined this really important business deal, that's all!"

Hermione rounded on him; the look in her eyes alone told Harry that he had said the wrong thing. "Oh so they think it's okay to lock someone in their room for days on end, feed them once a day and put bars on their window, just because of an accident? Harry James Potter you are an idiot!" Hermione snarled.

Ryou sighed. "I'll go put on some tea." He said leaving the room; it appeared his friends were going to be here for a while. Ryou wasn't sure whether he was happy about that or not. On one hand, it was nice to see them all again, but on the other, Bakura didn't like unexpected visitors. Ryou decided to lock up the knives while he was making tea, and hope that his friends left before Bakura woke up.

Seto Yugi and Mokuba arrived almost exactly when Seto said they would.

Seto wasted no time in taking charge of the meeting. "I have a plan. It's sketchy at best considering I haven't had my morning coffee yet and am running on maybe five hours of sleep, but it might just work." Seto went on to explain a plan to get Harry's custody removed from his relatives.

"But who be Harry's guardian then?" Hermione frowned. "I don't think there's anyone of age who can adopt him. . ."

"Seto was emancipated when he took control of Kaiba Corp and got custody of me." Mokuba grinned, telling everyone who had really come up with the idea to remove Harry's custody from his guardians. Seto had just turned it into a plausible course of action. "He could try to get Custody of Harry moved to him. That way Harry could come and live with us in Domino!" The younger boy declared excitedly. That meant he'd have two brothers!

Seto sighed. "That's not exactly a good idea Mokuba. No sensible court would give that to me. It's going to be nearly impossible to convince them. And if by some miracle it actually works, we'd have to keep it from the press. "

"Which would be even more impossible then actually gaining custody would be." Mokuba grinned, interrupting Seto before he could go on.

Harry blinked. "You've really thought this through huh. . ." He had dreamed of something like this happening, but now it was real. The possibility of escaping his relatives forever, it might actually happen!

"Not really. I've only had half an hour to think about it." Seto shrugged. "And to be honest, I doubt it will even work." Seto wasn't that familiar with laws. And he'd had enough problems just getting custody of Mokuba.

"I think that's a brilliant Idea." Hermione grinned. "I think you should go through with it." Hermione was certain that if they tried it, it would work. And things would be better because of it.

Ron nodded in agreement, sure it meant Harry would be on a different continent, but it was better than going back to those 'relatives' of his. No one, especially Harry, deserved to be treated like some kind of . . . Some kind of Sirius Black!

"The press would have a field day with that." Ryou frowned. Nothing stayed secret for long and something as big as this wouldn't go unnoticed. There wasn't even a chance of it not getting out. Even He could see that.

"Both muggle and Magical reporters would go crazy." Neville nodded in agreement. He knew from experience that reporters went wherever there was a story. And this type of story would draw them faster than a moth was drawn to a flame. But he was pretty sure Seto knew that. It wasn't like Seto was stupid, on the contrary Seto rivaled, possible even surpassed Hermione in intelligence.

Yugi wasn't sure what to say. Everyone else had already said exactly what he had wanted too. So there wasn't really anything he _could_ say. He settled would for nodding in agreement and smiling encouragingly.

Seto sighed again. "I'll give it a shot. But believe me; this is going to take a long time to get done. Ask your parents if they could take Custody of Harry instead. We'll use Mokuba's idea as a backup plan. A last resort, remember that. We've got until the summer next year to find Harry a Guardian. And you can bet that neither the Magical nor Muggle governments are going to want it to be me." Seto was not inclined to add that he didn't particularly want custody anyway. Not all of Mokuba's ideas were good ones.

Their meeting was adjourned after some small talk and Hermione telling everyone that she had tied with Draco Malfoy in a tournament the previous week. Ron drove Hermione and Neville home while Seto Yugi and Mokuba left a while later, Ryou wasn't sure how they were getting back but he was sure they would be fine. Though, Harry didn't exactly have anywhere to go. So Ryou decided to let him stay until they could find a more permanent place for Harry.

**Note!**

**Not my longest, or my best chapter I'll admit. I promise the next one is longer, and better written! In fact, it's already written! I just want to get your opinions on this one before I post it.**

**Also, I have a new poll up about this story, I want to hear your opinions on who should get Custody of Harry. This poll will let you tell me. So go check it out!**

**OH! And drop me a review kay? I love hearing what you think of my story! Be it good, bad, or constructive Criticism~**


	7. Discussions and Breakfast

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the next couple days, the group was continuously in contact. The various members of the group had different responses to asking if Harry could be adopted into their families. The group was currently meeting in the Orchard behind the burrow. Ron's house was surprisingly the easiest for everyone to get to. The Topic of discussion was, naturally their current predicament. They were spread out around a small part of the orchard as they had said discussion.<p>

"I haven't asked mum yet." Ron admitted he was lying on his back in the grass. "But, I don't think we can. I mean, Mum and Dad would do it, without a second thought. But," Ron sighed and shook his head. "But I don't think it's a good idea. I'd love to have you come live with us mate, I really would." He assured Harry as he rolled over onto his stomach.

"It's fine." Harry interrupted from his perch on one of the low hanging tree branches. "I get it. There are plenty of reasons. Money and room is mostly an issue right? It's what the Dursley's always complain about." Harry explained, when he saw that most of the group were surprised he had known. He was rather enjoying his 'birds-eye view'.

Ron nodded; he seemed embarrassed to admit that those were the main problems. "Otherwise, I'd ask mum and she'd say yes in a heartbeat. Even if she didn't believe what I told her about your relatives, I'm sure she'd say yes in a heartbeat if you asked her." Ron sighed rolling over a second time so that he was on his back again, watching the clouds move in the sky.

Neville sighed and slumped against the tree trunk he was sitting against. "I'd ask Gran, but. . . I'm a little scared too..." He admitted sheepishly. "We have more than enough room at the manor, and money isn't an issue. But, just asking Gran if she would, is a pretty scary idea. I don't really want to be in the room when she finds out how Harry's been treated this summer alone. . ." Neville's Grandmother was a scary woman, even when she _wasn't_ angry.

Hermione was sitting with her legs crossed under Harry's tree, the spot was shady and she had a book propped open in her lap. "I'll ask my mum and dad when I get the chance. But that would mean admitting that I sneaked out. . ." Hermione frowned and closed her book as she thought. "I suppose if I made it seem like I had heard it from one of you, then I could tell them. . . My house had a spare room that you could have Harry." Hermione added. "That is if they say yes and when I get the chance to ask. . ."

Ryou sighed he was lying on his stomach and watching everyone. He realized that now would be a good time to add in his own two cents. "I hate to say it. But it would appear that I may be the best option. Though my father is rarely home, I can probably send him a letter explaining the situation. I'm sure he would, after some convincing, agree to take Harry in." Ryou said. Though he honestly wasn't as sure as he sounded, he knew that it was better than the other options besides going to live with Seto in Japan. And Ryou had a feeling Harry would want to stay here and not have to move to a new and unfamiliar place.

Speaking of moving, Ryou was aware that if he hadn't been able to stay at Hogwarts, his father had planned to move to Japan. Domino City to be exact, except Ryou had not had any problems at Hogwarts. The Spirit hadn't caused any trouble the entire previous year. Which had surprised him, but he was grateful. Ryou really liked Hogwarts.

"Well, that's it then. Whoever can get their Guardian to say yes first ends the first gains a whole other problem. Gaining Custody won't be easy." Yugi pointed out, he was sitting against the same tree as Neville.

"Unless we make a decent case and wage war against the Wizarding court ourselves rather then get them involved..." Seto mused he was the only one standing, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. He somehow managed to make that position look comfortable; they lapsed into silence while he thought.

"Alright I've had enough of all this serious talk!" Ron declared, breaking the silence after a few minutes as he rolled onto his stomach again. "Let's play some Quidditch!" Ron grinned, getting to his feet in excitement.

Soon Ron, Seto, Yugi and Harry were up in the air playing a mock game of Quidditch. Harry and Ron were on one team, and Seto and Yugi were on the other. Ryou, Hermione, and Neville who preferred to keep their feet grounded decided to instead play duel monsters. Neville and Ryou dueled first, and the winner would duel Hermione.

It was a perfect day to do these things, the sun was out, it wasn't too hot, and the weather showed no sign of changing. They could, and would, remain out there for hours, forgetting their problems and having fun. Something they felt they didn't get to do as often as they could.

* * *

><p>Harry had been staying with Ryou for almost a week now, their Hogwarts letters had come, and they planned on going to Daigon Alley with everyone by Floo Powder from the burrow. This would happen on Saturday, it was currently Thursday.<p>

Harry almost didn't want to get out of bed that morning. The guest bed at Ryou's house was a hundred times more comfortable them the half-broken on the Dursley's had given him. But sunlight streamed though the mahogany colored curtains and into his face. Making falling back asleep all but impossible. He sighed and opened his eyes; he couldn't see almost anything without his glasses. But he didn't really need to at this point. He simply stared at the white painted ceiling for a moment as he debated whether or not to get up.

Eventually he realized that lying in bed was going to get him nowhere, he reached over to the bedside table and groped for his glasses. It took him a moment to find them, but it didn't take long for him to put them on.

The room came into view, Harry tossed off the white bed sheet he had been sleeping under and slid out of bed. He looked around the room, the carpet was a light tan color and there was a wooden dresser in one corner, and a desk off to the side. His trunk stood at the foot of the bed.

He opened it and pulled out a pair of the black pants normally worn with his school uniform and an oversized navy blue tee shirt. He put on the new cloths rather than walk around in the oversized hand me down pajama's he had been previously wearing. He wasn't stupid enough to bother with trying to tame his hair.

Harry left the room, wondering if Ryou was even awake yet. It was rather early for a summer morning; some part of him doubted his friend would be awake, even if Ryou didn't seem like the type to sleep in late on any day.

So he was both surprised and unsurprised to find Ryou already awake, and cooking something when he entered the kitchen to fix himself something to eat. Ryou was dressed in jeans and comfortable looking blue and white striped tee shirt. The other Gryffindor smiled at him. "Moring Harry." He greeted cheerily, before turning back to the eggs cooking on the stove.

"Need some help there?" Harry asked, a bit hopefully. He liked cooking, years of cooking for the Dursley's had also made it a habit he was sure he wasn't going to kick any time soon. Besides, cooking was calming, and the ocean decorated walls of the kitchen did nothing but help the feeling of calm.

Ryou nodded. "Help yourself, I can't promise there will be much left though. We'll have to go to the store later." Ryou commented, and for some reason Harry felt as though that comment wasn't directed at him.

Harry looked through the cupboards and fridge before grinning. "How dose Pancakes to go with those eggs sound?" He asked over his shoulder as he reached for the carton of eggs. There was, luckily just enough of them left for what he had in mind.

"Sounds fantastic, I generally buy the frozen kind." Ryou smiled a little as he broke the yoke and began to scramble the eggs. He only half listened to the sounds of Harry gathering what he would need. Ryou let the eggs set for a moment before pulling a kettle out of the cupboard next to the sink. He turned around to fill it with water and stopped short. Ryou watched as Harry cracked one of the eggs with a fluid, easy motion of one hand while the other measured out flour. Ryou shook his head and went back to his original task. He filled up the kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.

Harry grinned as he started mixing his pancake batter. "Good Idea. Breakfast just isn't breakfast without tea is it?" he joked.

Ryou laughed and nodded in agreement, the rest of the time it took to make breakfast was spent in companionable silence.

**Note!**

**And there's the next chapter. I would have had it out earlier today, but I got distracted. ^_^ I can't wait to write these next two chapters! **

**There's going to be a lot more Ryou in the future I promise you that!**

**Review if you can~  
><strong>


	8. Storms and Cliffhangers

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>After eating and cleaning up breakfast, the two boys sat down at the table and began to compile a grocery list. It didn't take long, as there wasn't much left in the house for lunch. It was rather important that they hurry up and get it done<p>

Ryou grabbed his Key's and a short sleeved light blue jacket while Harry got his shoes on. Harry ran back to grab the list and the money as Ryou put his own shoes on. They were out the door minutes later.

Today's weather was not pleasant, it was muggy and humid, and the sky was full of dark ominous clouds. If Harry believed in such things, he would have thought that the weather was foreshadowing something. A harsh wind blew, and Harry was now sure that a storm was coming, a big one.

"I suppose we're overdue." Ryou commented as they headed for curb and waited for the traffic light to change. "For a storm I mean. We haven't had one all summer." Ryou seemed to miss his nod of agreement, as he had turned to the side as if someone was standing there.

Harry had to lightly drag Ryou across the street, as the white haired Gryffindor had continued to look spaced out. Harry realized that this had happened before, at Hogwarts. Ryou would stare at some part of the room near him as if someone was there, and then space out. Harry frowned and wondered what was going on. Ryou wasn't usually so unfocused. Even if this wasn't that much of an unusual occurrence, something didn't feel right. He knew he was missing something. And he didn't like missing things. Because those things he missed tended to become very important later.

Ryou sighed. "I'm sorry for that Harry. I have a lot going on in my head." Ryou explained, was it his imagination or did those words have a double meaning? They started walking again.

Harry frowned. "Anything you want to talk about Ryou?" He asked, hoping to find out what was bugging the other boy.

Ryou shook his head, his long hair flying back in the wind that had continued blowing. "No. It's nothing really. Come on, we had better hurry if we want to get back before the storm starts." Ryou changed the subject a little too quickly in Harry's opinion. But he didn't pursue the subject any more. Whatever was bothering Ryou, he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

* * *

><p>Later that night Harry was rudely awoken by the sound of thunder crashing. He sighed and rolled over onto his back. He knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep for a while. He turned onto his side again and reached for his glasses, it took him longer than usual to find them in the dark then it had that morning. Thunder crashed again like a war drum in the sky. Harry put on his glasses and headed in the direction he assumed the light switch was in. It was too dark in the room to really tell where anything was.<p>

He didn't find the wall until his knee slammed into it. Harry hissed in pain, but it quickly faded. He felt along the wall until he found the light switch. He flipped it, only for nothing to happen. The power was out. "Great." He sighed running a hand through his hair. The room was pitch black, and Harry really didn't want to try to open the curtains, considering his luck he's probably trip over something and get a concussion.

So instead he found his way over to the door and pulled it open. There weren't any curtains in the living room, so he would just camp out there for the night. If he was lucky the power would come on and he could watch some television. He wasn't going to get any sleep with that thunder going off every few minutes anyway.

Harry cautiously walked down the hall. He didn't want to trip over anything, and, for some reason he felt as though someone was going to jump out from around the corner and attack him. But of course, that was entirely possible when he was living with the Dursley's. 'Harry Hunting' was still one of his cousin's favorite games even now. But it was odd that he should feel like that here, Ryou wasn't the kind of person to jump out at him on purpose.

By the time he found his way past the kitchen, the rain was coming down harder than ever. That and he found that he was extremely grateful that his room was on the first floor, due to the many times he almost tripped over something or the many times he rammed into something. Harry wasn't sure what would have happened if he had been forced to climb down stairs in pure darkness.

Harry headed down the last hall to the living room, it was better lit then the others because it had a window. So he was less worried about crashing into something then he was before. Which he was glad for, until he was blinded by a sudden flash of lightning Harry hissed and covered his eyes, by the time they adjusted to the darkness there was another flash. But this one was different; this time there was someone standing in front of the window at the end of the hall.

The lightning lit up the person's silhouette ominously. But Harry recognized it immediately. It was Ryou, the hair made it impossible to mistake him for someone else after all. Though, Harry noted that some of Ryou's hair was sticking out at odd angles, giving off the appearance of rabbit ears, or horns. Harry relaxed and was about to say something, when 'Ryou' spoke.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Harry froze in shock, that wasn't Ryou. No way was that Ryou. Ryou's voice was soft, and generally kind and polite, this voice, was harsh and, if Harry wasn't mistaken, filled with a large amount of amusement. What was so funny, Harry had a feeling he didn't want to find out.

The figure walked forward, Harry now noticed it had red eyes that seemed to glow, in much the same manner as Yami's did. The gold pendant around the person's neck was Ryou's, but the person wearing it wasn't Ryou. Harry was confused, and again, felt as though he was missing something important, something big.

"This is certainly a surprise." The person spoke with light sarcasm this time. "I've been waiting quite a while to meet you, Harry Potter. My host thinks very highly of you." The words were light and casual, but the tone suggested that the person may start snickering cruelly any minute.

Harry's blood ran cold as things suddenly clicked into place, the eyes, and the gold pendant. It all made sense now! Ryou's golden pendant held a spirit, just like the Puzzle did! But something told him this spirit, wasn't half as benevolent as the Spirit of the Puzzle was.

**Note!**

**I am So sorry about how long this took! I was overcome by MAJOR mind block! I hope you understand. I'll try to get the next chapter out faster I promise!**

**The next chapter will involve high amounts of Everyone's favorite evil spirit!**

**Try to review if you have the time! I better get started on the new Chapter, Seeya!**


	9. A Deal With The White Haired Devil

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>The Spirit possessing Ryou leaned against the wall in and crossed his arms, a mock thoughtful expression on his face. "Though, I must say that it was rather rude of him, to invite someone into our home without asking my permission first." The Spirit commented. For someone who seemed so dangerous, he was acting entirely too casual.<p>

Though, it did help his nerves to know that the spirit wasn't going to outright attack him or anything. After some debating, Harry decided it was finally time to say something. "Who are you?" Was the first thing out of his mouth, he hadn't even had time to think before it was said. Harry wasn't sure he even wanted to know! But there was no taking it back now.

The Spirit laughed and answered easily, as if he had been expecting this question from the beginning. Harry realized that he probably had. "Those who have hung around long enough to meet me know me as Bakura. My dear landlord has gone through much trouble to keep my existence from you and his other little _friends._" The Spirit rolled his eyes and said the last word sarcastically, his tone made it very clear he was mocking Ryou.

Harry knew that Ryou wouldn't keep secrets unless he had a reason. It didn't take a genius to know that this spirit, if he was even half as strong as Yami, was trouble. "What's the point of revealing yourself then? Couldn't you have just let Ryou back into control or something?" Harry asked. "I don't think you came out here just to _talk_." Harry crossed his arms and frowned as he said the last sentence.

Bakura raised an eyebrow; he seemed surprised that Harry appeared to know what he was talking about. But that quickly faded as the spirit seemed to remember something. "Oh, that's right. You, like my host, hang around the vessel of the Spirit of the _Pharaoh_." Bakura hissed the title with barely concealed contempt. Bakura wasn't quite sure why he couldn't say or even remember the Pharaohs name, even after 5,000 years. He should never have forgotten he name of his mortal enemy. It would be far more acceptable to his pride to call the Spirit of the Puzzle by his birth name rather than that title.

Harry blinked in confusion. "Yami is a Pharaoh?" He asked, before reminding himself that Bakura was most likely an enemy and he shouldn't be conversing so causally with him. But, then again, the spirit hadn't acted in a hostile manner yet. So he was having a hard time convincing himself that he should be on guard.

_'Yami,'_ Bakura could remember enough to know that was definitely not the Pharaoh's true name. _'Perhaps, the ritual, if it is the one I believe it was, had something to do with this.'_ Bakura was aware that there were very few rituals that were able to do what the Pharaoh did so long ago. But, there was only one ritual that the Pharaoh would be willing to use. _'He must have used his name as the key.'_ Bakura realized. Now they he knew the key, his plan would come together much more smoothly. But first, he would have to test his theory at a later date. At this moment he had to deal with Potter.

Harry frowned, whatever was going on in Bakura's head. He was sure it didn't mean anything good for Yami. For whatever reason, this new Spirit seemed to hate the Spirit of the Puzzle. That at least, was even more obvious then Yugi's love of duel monsters. "You know," Harry spoke casually, not willing to show he was unnerved by the spirit. "If you're trying to decide how to kill me, I'll have to advise against it." Harry joked. He was sure that Bakura could have killed him by now if he wanted. After all, they had just been standing there for a few minutes now.

Bakura smirked. "Most people would be too terrified to joke around in this type of situation. But then again, you're not like most people, are you Mr. Potter?" Of course he wasn't, no normal person survived the killing curse. Bakura wasn't stupid. He knew all about Harry Potter. The boy should be dead. But he wasn't. Bakura was eager to find out how this was possible. But he had a feeling Potter didn't know himself.

"No. I'm not." Harry agreed. "And I'm rather proud of that fact. I think it's something that most people wish they had." Harry grinned. He wasn't sure why he wasn't more concerned. But he didn't really care anymore. He liked living with Ryou. And he wasn't going to be scared away by this Spirit. Nothing Bakura did would scare him. Harry decided. He wasn't going to pretend he had any kind of power. But he also wasn't going to sit back and get killed if Bakura attacked or something.

Bakura nodded in agreement. "Courage is an admirable trait in the face of an enemy. You've faced a great enemy and lived. I'd quite like to know how." Bakura sensed something shifting in the Millennium Ring. There was a gentle, almost nonexistent hum of energy. The ring was reacting to Potter for some reason. Bakura wasn't sure what this meant, but he would find out. That meant he had to let Potter live for now. If the boy's usefulness ran out, Bakura would dispose of him as he saw fit.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know how I survived Voldemort the first time." Harry said bluntly. "But I do know that without Yami's help. I'd never have survived last year. I'm not some great warrior if that's what you want to know. I have the luck of the devil himself, but that's it." Harry didn't feel like lying. Hermione would say he was being modest, but he wasn't. Not really. It was the truth. Without Yami he wouldn't have survived. He was sure of that.

"Well, we'll just have to find out then won't we? Love is not a form of magic Potter. No matter what that Headmaster of yours says." Bakura stated. Potter seemed surprised that he knew. "You told my host, and by extension you told me, what that fool had said to you after you awoke. Believe me. Love has no power. Love is nothing. Whatever allowed you to survive that night, it had nothing to do with _love_." Bakura spat the word as if it was poison.

Harry frowned. "Then what was it?" Could he trust Bakura? Something told him that he shouldn't. But so far, he had no real reason not to. It couldn't hurt to just hear him out. He would find out more about Bakura from Ryou tomorrow. Until then, he would just have to trust his instincts. Currently they were telling him to listen to what Bakura had to say. So that's what he was going to do. "If you're so sure it's not love. What is it then?"

Bakura shrugged. "I don't know what you power is. But tell you what Potter. I'll help you find out what this unknown power of yours is. _If_ you assist me with a few tasks here and there, no questions asked." Bakura smirked. "You're not the only one who needs help here after all. You help me, I'll help you. No other strings attached." Bakura was certain this was an offer Potter would not refuse. It was a win-win situation for the both of them. Bakura gained an ally close to The Pharaoh. And he would find what sort of power Potter held. Once he knew that, he could exploit it for his own means. Bakura held out his hand for Harry to shake.

Harry mulled over his options in his head. If he accepted, he would find out what kind of power he had. But he would owe Bakura favors. And he had a feeling Bakura wasn't someone you wanted to be indebted too. But, if he found out what the power that had stopped the Killing curse was, he'd have a huge advantage in the future. And in helping Bakura, he would also learn the Spirits plans. Harry realized he could end up helping Yami a lot by warning him ahead of time. Harry grinned. "Bakura my friend, you've got yourself a deal." Harry accepted Bakura's hand.

Despite the evil smirk on Bakura's face as they shook hands. Harry knew he had made the right decision.

**Note!**

**Well it may not hav ebeen what you were expecting, or hoping for. But I staid up until Six Am to write this for you guys. So be grateful.**

**And yes, Bakura originally intended to Kill Harry in some way. But he changed his plans to better suit his own means.**

**Clearly, this is not the last we will see of Bakura.**


	10. Fun times

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Harry felt obligated to tell Ryou about what had happened last night. Ryou would find out one way or another, and Harry wanted to be sure that he heard the right version of things right off the bat.<p>

Ryou was horrified. "Harry, you shouldn't have! Bakura isn't the kind of person you make a deal with!" Ryou didn't know what the spirit was planning. But he didn't have to know. Whenever Bakura planned something it never ended well. Not for him, and not for anyone else involved.

Harry grinned reassuringly at Ryou. "Trust me. I made the right choice. Things will work out in the long run." Their Hogwarts letters had arrived that morning. But they lay unopened and forgotten due to what Harry had just told Ryou.

"Nothing I say will convince you otherwise." Ryou sighed. "But I suppose we'll just have to live with whatever happens." He smiled a little. "At least now someone else knows about him. Keeping a secret is hard you know? It's actually kind of a relief that I'm not the only one aware of him anymore." Ryou chucked. "It's a shame you can't see him like I can. I think you have to be bonded to the ring like I am for that to happen." Ryou commented.

"I wish I could see him. That would be so cool!" Harry grinned. "I'd probably be able to see Yami too! I could freak people out by having conversations with nothing!" Harry laughed. He was in a good mood, and nothing was going to ruin it.

Ryou laughed too. It was nice to have a friend. Especially one that Bakura wasn't going to hurt. Neville was nice. But he wasn't the same as Harry. Neville was more like him, a quiet type of person. One who knew when to be worried and one who knew that you couldn't win every battle. Harry was different; he had a sort of strange confidence that was oddly infectious. Ryou felt that Harry could walk into hell and come out alive. Harry gave off an unusual sense of 'everything will work out'. Harry didn't seem to be worried about anything. He didn't seem to think that there was ever a reason to be worried or give up. It was a foreign concept to Ryou, to not give up in the face of unyielding danger. But he supposed that Harry might be onto something. Ryou would try to think like that sometimes.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Harry asked. "Homework's done, nowhere to go, no chores. We should do something fun!" Harry suggested grinning excitedly.

Ryou chuckled. "While I admire your enthusiasm Harry, we can't do much of anything until we get dressed." He pointed out. They were both still in their pajamas.

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Um, I knew that!"

"I don't think your being honest with yourself." Ryou grinned. "Let's go get dressed shall we? The sun is shining rather brightly after that storm last night. It seems like such a waste to stay inside all day."

They went to change out of their pajamas. Ryou changed into jeans and a short sleeved dark green button up shirt. While Harry changed into an oversized light purple tee shirt and two-sizes-too-big beige shorts that went past his knees.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon Bakura silently watched as Ryou and Potter tossed around ideas for what to do. Potter's idea's where more adventurous, more exciting than Ryou's. But Ryou seemed genuinely excited about some of them. Bakura nodded. He was certain now, that keeping Potter around would be a very good thing. Potter would be a good influence on his host. And that was in addition to being a valuable pawn in his plans.<p>

The Spirit frowned as he felt it. The Ring was reacting to Potter again. It was so light, so unnoticeable. That only he could sense it. Ryou wasn't in tune with the ring to that level yet. But it was unsettling to say the least. The Millennium item reacting to someone without another item or any connection to its ancient past, it was unheard of. Bakura pulled from his own thoughts in time to catch the end of Ryou's own.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. They were going to play at the park. If there was one thing he would never have expected, it was this. Ryou never went to the park. And he didn't play often. But they were both grinning like a thief whom had just stolen the pharaoh's crown as they left. Discussing what they would do once they were there. Some of the suggestions included, Cops and Robbers: Wizard Style, Hide and seek, tag, or something else of their own invention. All of these ideas seemed to go over well with both of them. In fact they seemed to be having a hard time choosing between them as they left the house.

The two started discussing the rules of Cops and Robbers: Wizard style as they walked down the street. Bakura listened half heartedly. As interesting as it was to see Ryou having fun, he felt that there were more pressing matters to attend too. Bakura retreated to his soul room and decided he would leave his host alone for now.

Ryou sighed in relief, as he felt Bakura's presence fade. "Well, at least I know that we'll be left alone for the most part today." Ryou grinned at Harry. "Now about what spells to use, I read about this fascinating stunner last term. We could use that one could we not?"

* * *

><p>"Stupefy!" Harry shouted pointing one hand at Ryou and mimicking shooting a gun at him. Ryou ducked behind a tree. "No fair! I almost had you that time, Stupid thief!" Harry laughed. He was having a blast. They had been playing their new game for hours now. Suddenly someone jabbed him in the back.<p>

"Stupefy." The person declared. Harry blinked and spun around, only to find Yugi standing there. Grinning at him like the Cheshire cat. "I think I just got you." Yugi didn't know the rules, but he did know that it looked like fun.

Harry blinked in surprise, and then he grinned and gasped and clutched his heart. "No! How could you of all people betray me so? I thought you were a cop Yugi!" Harry laughed and fell over dramatically.

Yugi's grin got just a little bit wider. "No! You are sadly mistaken!" Yugi declared just as dramatically. "I have always been a thief! A double agent! Hurry Ryou, we must flee! Before His reinforcements arrive!" Yugi declared as Ryou ran up to him. They both seemed to be trying not to burst out laughing.

"Too late, you're too slow." Someone said walking up to the two with both his hands mimicking guns.

"And now we'll take you out!" Another person was with the first. Only one of her hands was mimicking a gun. But it was still pointed at Ryou and Yugi. It was Seto and Hermione, they had been with Yugi.

Mokuba grinned and decided to join in the fun. He was naturally with the group as he was never far from his brother. "Not so fast! Yugi wasn't the only double agent!" The raven haired boy declared. "I'm a Thief too! Stupefy!" Mokuba mimicked shooting Seto. "Run!" Mokuba laughed and darted past Yugi and Ryou.

"My own brother is a thief, a criminal!" Seto shook his head in mock despair. "I'll get you for turning him against me Yugi!" Seto pointed at Yugi and smirked. "You won't get away with your crime!" Seto then fell over and pretended to have been stunned.

Yugi grinned. "I look forward to it, Officer." He stated as he saluted Seto. He then ran after Mokuba. Ryou followed Yugi; the three took refuge behind a large rock near the lake in the middle of the park. Once they were sure they hadn't been followed. Ryou began explaining the rules to his new teammates.

* * *

><p>As soon as Ryou Yugi and Mokuba had gotten out of sight, Harry grinned. "You can get up now Seto. The rules clearly state that once the Thieves are completely out of sight. You're officially not-stunned." Harry helped Seto back to his feet. "The only spell you can use is Stupefy or Rope-trick. Stupefy knocks your target out if it hits. Rope-Trick ties them up so you can get them to the Jungle-Gym which is the jail." Harry explained quickly. "But you have to guard your captive once you get them in the jail. Because once they've been in the jail for two minutes they can try to trick you and escape."<p>

Hermione was listening intently, and memorizing each rule as soon as it was spoken.

"But it goes both ways. If they capture one of us, they take us to their base which is the playground." Harry explained. "Once we're there for two minutes, we can try to escape. If anyone is caught escaping. They have to stay captured for another two minutes before they can try again." Harry said.

Seto nodded. "All reasonable rules, but what happens if they capture the entire team?"

Harry grinned excitedly. "That's the best part! If either team captures the entire other team, and keeps them there for five minutes or more. That team wins! But before we do this, I have to ask, how did you know we were here?" Harry asked.

Hermione giggled. "We didn't! We were walking past after my last Tournament, which Seto, Mokuba, and Yugi had come to see. And we saw you two playing. We spied a while to get the gist of things. And then we joined in!" Hermione didn't care to mention how much begging Mokuba had to do to get Seto to join them.

* * *

><p>"For the record, I blame you." Harry stated leaning against the plastic wall of the playground. He and Hermione sat in one of the high up towers. But not the one with the tube slide. The only ways out were down the ladder which was guarded by Ryou, or the monkey bars leading to the other end. That way was guarded by Mokuba. So they were effectively caged in.<p>

Hermione shot him an indignant look. "Honestly? You're blaming me for this? It was your idea to pull a sneak attack on them! Clearly this is your fault. And you had better hope Seto can break us out before they capture him! If we lose the game because of your stupid idea. . ." Hermione left off, letting her threat hang in the air.

Harry sighed and stood up; he used one of the multiple gaps in the wall to lift himself up so that he could look over the side. "I think I have an Idea on how we can escape. . . We'll need a gun though. ."

"They took our guns on the way in Harry! We're trapped. There's no way out." Hermione sighed.

Harry continued to watch the ground. "I'm going to try something okay? If it works, I'll come back for you." Harry climbed further up the wall using another gap until he was kneeling on the edge.

"Harry? What are you doing?" Hermione asked frowning. This couldn't be anything good. In fact what he was planning was downright dangerous if she understood what he was doing.

Harry grinned at her. "Once I read the ground I'll get my gun back, I can take out Ryou and Mokuba." Harry whispered so neither of their guards would hear. Before Hermione could tell him not to, or argue with him, or give him a logical reason not to. Harry brought one leg over the side of the wall, then the other. And as Hermione opened her mouth to tell him he was crazy. Harry jumped over the side. He hit the ground hard. But regardless of the pain from the fall, he rolled to the side so that he was on his back and shot both of his finger-guns in the general direction of Ryou and Mokuba. Harry heard someone shout 'No!' so he assumed that he had hit someone.

Harry was pulled to his feet by Seto who was smirking at him. "Come on Harry, we better save Hermione." Seto smirked.

Harry nodded. And together they charged into what soon became a fierce battle between Harry and Seto Verses Mokuba and Yugi, with Ryou and Hermione cheering on their respective teams.

* * *

><p>They continued to play Cops and Robbers: Wizard Style, for hours. By the time they stopped it was long into the night. And they were tied. Whenever one team won one game, the other team would win the next. Everyone agreed to teach Neville and Ron how to play when they went to Daigon Alley tomorrow. Something about the idea of a Daigon Alley wide game excited all of them. They knew they'd have to try that someday.<p>

Bakura had to admit, it had been a long time since his host had been that happy for any reason. Perhaps he'd keep these 'friends' of his around, for a while at least.

**Note!**

**Last chapter for today I think~**


	11. Floo Powder

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>The next day everyone converged once again in the Orchard behind the Burrow. Harry and Ryou were in the middle of telling Neville and Ron how to play their new game.<p>

"You should call it Auror's and Outlaws!" Ron suggested. "Auror's are like those Cops you told me about. But for Wizards." Ron grinned. He was wearing a black tee shirt and blue pants. Today's weather wasn't that bad. So the long sleeved button up shirt and jeans that Harry was wearing weren't too warm, even if it was the hottest month of summer.

"Auror's and outlaws huh? I like that." Harry grinned. "What do you guys think?" He asked the rest of the group. The vote was unanimous. Cops and Robbers: Wizard Style was now renamed Auror's and Outlaws.

But before they could start playing, they were herded into the house by the twins. Apparently Ms. Weasley had decided that it was time to go to Daigon alley.

"Oh this is so exciting!" Hermione squealed as she walked into the den of the burrow with Yugi. "I've read all about magical means of transportation. But using them will be a whole new experience!" Hermione hadn't been this excited since they got their scores back from the end of the year exams.

Ron was explaining to Yugi, Harry, and Ryou how to use Floo powder. Neville was explaining it to Seto and Mokuba with help from Hermione. They had decided the previous week. That they would use the buddy system since so many of their group was going to be first time users. Seto would go with Mokuba. Hermione would go with Ron. Harry would go with Ryou. Yugi would go with Neville. The den was just a tad bit cramped. But they all fit.

Ryou was nervous, scared even. He didn't like fire, and traveling through it, seemed unnatural. He would have preferred to take the bus to the leaky cauldron. But Harry insisted that they go with the rest of their friends. And Ryou found it hard to argue with Harry once he had his mind set on something.

Hermione dragged Ron forward first. She didn't want to wait a second more then she had to. This was going to be so exciting! But before they could reach the fireplace the twins ran ahead of them and tossed their own handfuls of Floo powder into the fire. "Daigon alley!" They shouted at the same time, and in an inferno of spinning acid green flames, they were gone.

Hermione glared at the fire once it calmed down. The once again orange flames danced innocently. "Hurry up Ronald!" Hermione dragged Ron into the fire, grabbing a handful of Floo powder with her free hand.

"Calm down Hermione!" Ron yelped. He felt like his arm was going to be wrenched out of his socket. "Daigon Alley isn't going anywhere." Ron tried to slow her down; he almost didn't manage to grab a handful of Floo Powder before Hermione pulled sharply on his arm. Ron hissed in pain as he was dragged into the fire. _'Jeez, she can never wait can she?' _Sometimes Hermione's impatience got on his nerves. He tossed down the powder at the same time Hermione did. "Daigon Alley!" Hermione was pleasantly surprised that the green flames didn't burn as they engulfed her.

Seto waited for the rest of the Weasley's bar the adults to go, before he strode towards the fire. Mokuba followed him excitedly. They each took a handful of Floo Powder. "Daigon Alley!" Within seconds they were gone.

Ryou hung back nervously. He knew that in a few moments. Harry and he would have to go. But he honestly didn't want to go. Ryou couldn't help it. Fire was fire, and when you grew up in the Muggle world. Fire was extremely dangerous! But Ryou was more scared of it than most people. For reasons he wasn't quite ready to reveal to his friends just yet.

Harry watched with interest as Neville and Yugi vanished among the bright green flames. Floo Powder looked interesting. And it had to be safe enough since Ron used it all the time. They just had to be sure to state the place they wanted to go. In a clear and precise manner, if he remembered Hermione's explanation right. He could honestly say that he hadn't been paying that much attention. It was very easy to zone out during one of Hermione's lectures.

He turned to Ryou. "It's our turn mate." He grinned, and then he noticed how nervous Ryou looked. Harry frowned. "You okay Ryou? Do you need a minute to calm down?" Harry hoped that Ryou was okay. This was a new experience for both of them. And Harry knew that Ryou didn't always like trying new things. Maybe he shouldn't have insisted that they do this. He didn't want to make Ryou do something he didn't want to.

Ryou smiled reassuringly, though it came out more strained then he had wanted. "No, no, I'm alright now." He really wasn't. But he was willing to try anything once, even Floo Powder. Ryou had the strangest feeling he would regret this later. But never the less he started walking towards the fireplace after Harry. Ryou suddenly wondered if he should have given himself a tarot card reading this morning. To see how things would go. Ryou used his cards often. It was a trait that he regrettably shared with Bakura. They both liked the occult. And they could both read tarot cards almost as quickly as Hermione could read Hogwarts A History.

Harry took a handful of Floo powder and grinned at Ryou. "Ready?"

"I'm ready as I'll ever be I suppose." Ryou sighed taking his own handful. "Let's go." Together they stepped into the fire and tossed down their handfuls of Floo Powder. Ryou was suddenly overcome by panic as bright green flames leapt up. "Diagonally!" Ryou squeaked a bit too quickly.

Harry's eye widened as suddenly the world stared spinning. Everything was moving, he felt sick. The first thing Harry thought as he and Ryou were flung from the Floo Network and onto the floor of their destination was. _'Ryou was right this was a bad idea. . .'_

* * *

><p>Ryou groaned as Harry helped him to his feet. "What happened?" Ryou just knew something was going to go wrong! He brushed the dust and grime from the filthy floor off of his shirt and jeans. Though, since his shirt was black. It was hard to tell if he had gotten all of it off. He sighed and turned to Harry. Hoping the other boy had some idea where they were.<p>

"Well, we're definitely not in Daigon Alley." Harry said nervously. They were in an extremely creepy shop. There was no lighting. Except for what came from outside the store. The entire place gave off the kind of vibe you generally only get from horror movies. The floor was coated with dust and a thick layer of grime. The walls weren't in much better condition. The originally normally colored wood was stained black. There were many selves lining the walls and many other places. Harry took notice of a withered hand on one of the nearby shelves. It must have been valuable as it was on a cushion and places near the window.

_'Well, nothing here if going to be on your school list now is it? Best you get going before you get into any more trouble.'_ Bakura said with an air of disinterest as he floated about the store. _'I'll stick around if you don't mind.'_ Clearly Bakura was browsing the selection of odd and unusual merchandise. _'There's lots of dark magic floating about. Off you go now.' _Bakura cast a look out the window and raised an eyebrow in surprise._ 'Then again, by the looks of the market outside, you're probably safer in here.'_ Bakura commented glancing back at Ryou over his shoulder.

Ryou frowned. He didn't like the way the Spirit was eyeing the bloody pack of cards. They were in a display case on the far side of the room. Ryou turned back to Harry to tell him what Bakura had said. He was surprised to find that Harry wasn't standing next to him anymore.

Harry walked along the side of the shop. He was curious about the evil looking masks along the wall. Their eyes seemed to follow you as you moved. One in particular caught his interest. It had a sort of dog shaped design. It was black with white details on its eyes. The sides and top of the head were painted navy blue. It looked like a headdress of some sort. He turned around. And was about to ask Ryou if the design looked as familiar to him as it did to Harry. But he then got distracted by having a staring contest with the creepy glass eye on a shelf behind him.

Ryou blinked. "I guess we're staying a bit. . ." Ryou didn't exactly want to stay. But both Bakura and Harry seemed to be very interested in the store. It obviously held things from the darker side of wizard magic. These were the kinds of things that Bakura and Harry had never encountered before. Ryou supposed he should be curious as well. But he'd really rather just get out of there. The others were going to worry anyway.

Bakura turned sharply to the door. _'Hide, Now Ryou!'_ The spirit hissed. Bakura vanished silently as Ryou ran over to Harry and pulled him towards the cabinet near the back of the store. It was big enough to hide the both of them.

"What's going on?" Harry asked confusedly. "Is someone coming?" He asked. He helped Ryou pull the cabinet open.

Ryou nodded. "Yes. Bakura warned me. It wouldn't do for us to get caught. Even he can see that." Ryou pulled Harry into the cabinet. They pulled the doors shut just in time for the door to open and three people to step inside.

Harry wondered who had entered. He wasn't one to ignore his curiosity. So he pushed the cabinet door open. He made sure to open it just enough to see who was in the store. Hopefully they couldn't see him as well.

**Note!**

**Sorry this took so long. I got hit with minor mind block. ^_^ **

**I might have another chapter up today depending on how fast I work.**


	12. Starring, Draco Malfoy!

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy looked around the shop his father had taken him too curiously. He had never been allowed inside Borgin and Burkes, much less Nocturne Alley before. It was just as interesting as he had always assumed it was. Draco was fascinated by many of the things in the store. His father was busy doing business with the owner. Thus he paid little attention to Draco's wanderings.<p>

'_So, what do you think these are for?'_ Draco asked the voice in his head. He was looking at some blood stained knives. They had intricately designed handles. Many designs were carved into the metal. The metal of the handles seemed to shine like gold. The blades of the knives themselves were black. Making the bright red stains that coated them stand out even more.

The voice hummed in a thoughtful manner. _'I have no idea. They're probably cursed. My guess is they were created for torture or murder, or both.'_ The voice responded a little too cheerily for Draco's taste. _'Quite a piece of work don't you agree?'_ The voice sounded as though it was admiring the knives. _'They were crafted by a skilled blacksmith surely. It must have been someone with a real talent for the art!'_ The voice sounded as though it was grinning.

Draco nodded in agreement. _'They're probably worth more than their being sold for.' _If there was one thing Draco knew. It was money. And the price in front of those knives, didn't match up to the quality of the merchandise. It was almost laughable really. But he wasn't going to correct the price. He didn't want to risk his Father's wrath later.

The voice seemed to nod. '_They're definitely worth more.'_ The voice agreed. '_But that's enough chatting about fine craftsmanship. I can't have been the only one of us to notice the cabinet over there open on its own can I?_' the tone the voice was using made it clear that if Draco hadn't seen it. The voice would think he was an idiot of some sort.

Draco rolled his eyes. _'I saw it. I was hoping it was the wind. But we're not that lucky. Shall we take a look once Father goes in the back room?'_ Draco grinned. Wondering who or what was hiding in the cabinet. He hoped it was something worth finding. But he probably didn't have to worry about that. Cabinets that opened on their own as soon as you entered the room tended to be hiding interesting secrets.

He tried to be inconspicuous as he wandered near the cabinet. He shuddered as he caught sight of an array of human bones on display. Draco was sure that those bones were only on display for decoration purposes. They were probably even fakes. At least he hoped they were fakes. Then he passed a perfectly normal looking necklace. It was quite pretty actually. It was beaded, with blue and green like a peacock. The pendant that hung off it was colored around the edges with the same scheme. The gemstone in the middle was black. Probably obsidian that is if he remembered is gems correctly. Then he noticed the note card on the display case.

The voice the voice seemed to be raising an eyebrow. _'Cursed necklace, has taken the lives of four muggle owners to date. What a charming thing to have on display. . .'_ The voice said sarcastically. _'No really. That's just what everyone wants for their birthday.'_ The voice rolled its eyes, or at least that's the impression Draco got.

Draco snickered. '_What's not to love about cursed necklace that kills you when you put it on?' _He smirked. _'I'm sure it's the must have gift of the century. I've heard things like that is all the rage in America.' _Draco added walking away from the case.

The voice gave a triumphant cheer that seemed to echo in his head for a moment. Draco winced. _'I've finally done it! I've managed to give you a sense of humor! Now we just need to work on your friend making skills. And we might have you acting like an average human being by your thirteenth birthday!_' The voice was undoubtedly grinning now.

Draco got the impression someone had wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He rolled his eyes at the voice. He pretended to examine a creepy withered hand. '_Aren't_ _we supposed to be busting whoever is hiding in the cabinet? Really you get too easily distracted.'_ Draco wasn't sure when he started referring to the voice as a person, much less a separate entity from himself. But he didn't really care. The voice was able to hold up an intelligent conversation. Which was something which his current group of 'friends' could not do.

_'Hey, you're me and I'm you. So I'm not the only one who get's distracted!' _The voice was laughing now. Draco could almost picture its sickeningly happy grin_. 'But yeah that sounds like a good idea. Whoever's in there might be trouble though. So be on your guard.' _The voice seemed to be frowning. Draco got the impression it would rather be the one heading towards the cabinet. But he didn't really care.

Draco moved wasn't too far away. But something caught his eye. Ironically, it was another eye. It seemed to follow him wherever he went. But it just sat there innocently staring back at him. Draco didn't take his eyes off it. He frankly didn't trust anything in this store. It was all dark magic in one way or another. The shop was quiet. If he strained his ears he could tell exactly what his father was discussing with the owner in the back, not that he didn't already know.

The quiet just meant he'd have to be careful. Out of the corner of his eye Draco spied something, a flash. It was kind of like a reflection of the light, possibly one that came off glasses. Draco raised an eyebrow. _'Well isn't this interesting.'_ He had a feeling he already knew who was in the cabinet. It was just his style to get into trouble. In fact he was confident that he did as he strode over to it and flung the door open.

**Note!**

**Mostly a filler chapter I'm aware. But it was a necessary one. The next chapter will be better. And may be out tonight depending on how fast I can get it written.**

**On that note. There aren't many chapters of this story left. This story will end with their summer vacation. And the next story, containing their Second year will begin.**

**You read, Now you might want to review. Depending on how much you enjoyed this Draco-centered Chapter.**


	13. Finale! One Story Ends, The Next Begins!

**"Japanese" (Only used when speaking Japanese in a usually English speaking setting)**

_'Thoughts/Mindlink'_

"Normal speak/English."

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>Harry was shocked and simply stared at Draco in surprise for a few moments. The instant the door was open their eyes had locked. Draco's eyebrow was raised in question while Harry's eyes were ride in shock. He hadn't expected Draco to simply throw open the door. He honestly hadn't been aware that the Slytherin knew they were in there until that moment. It was kind of embarrassing. Not that Harry would admit it of course. Harry shook off his surprise and grinned at Draco. He stepped out of the Cabinet as if he had every right to be there.<p>

Ryou was in shock. They had been caught! Oh this was awful! He just knew something bad was going to happen now! Ryou was dragged from his thoughts, and the cabinet. By Harry who was grinning at him. He frowned at Harry, wishing that Harry would take the situation seriously.

On the other hand Bakura seemed to be enjoying Harry's reaction to their current predicament quite a bit. _'I like this kid._' Bakura grinned. Potter certainly had the kind of attitude he hoped would rub off on his host. Ryou would benefit from some of whatever it was that Potter had. All in all, Bakura was, for the moment. Quite glad that he had not killed Potter two nights ago, life would certainly not be as interesting without him.

"Alright Potter. What the hell are you doing in Nocturne Alley? Do you know how stupid it is for someone like you to be here?" Draco hissed, keeping his voice low incase his Father heard. He didn't care if Potter got caught. But after Ryou helped him over the holidays last year, Draco owed the white haired Gryffindor a favor. This might as well be it he supposed. Draco wasn't sure if they matched up. But he was also sure that Ryou wouldn't care. Ryou Bakura was known for his kindness. So the white haired boy probably didn't even think Draco owed him anything in the first place.

Harry shrugged. "We tried Floo Powder for the first time. Ryou got freaked by the fire and mispronounced Daigon Alley. We were thrown out here. We spent a few minutes looking around. Then you and your father started coming. So we hid. There's nothing else to add to the story." Harry said. Taking a page out of Draco's book and keeping his voice down. He decided that lying would get them nowhere with someone like Draco. Draco may have been a huge pain last year but even Harry wasn't blind enough to not see that some serious changes had been made. Hermione dueling him earlier that summer was just one of the things that marked the change as even more noticeable.

Draco rolled his eyes. "This is typical of you isn't it Potter? Only you could end up the darkest magical market in Britain and by accident no less." Draco shook his head. He truly could not believe that Harry's luck was that bad. Personally he hadn't quite believed the rumors going around that Potter had faced the Dark Lord last year. But then again anything was possible with magic. Draco had decided to remain neutral on that front.

Ryou sweat dropped. "And I suppose that since Harry has been living with me these last two weeks. It makes sense that his luck or karma or whatever you call it. Has started to rub off on me. . ." He sighed. He wasn't happy about this revelation. But it was the most logical thing he could come up with at the moment. He could feel Bakura's amusement coming from their link. Ryou wondered just what the spirits plans were. But he also knew he would find out in time. And even if he didn't, Ryou was sure Harry would tell him about them either way. Harry was trustworthy. That was probably why Bakura decided to use Harry for whatever he was plotting.

Harry grinned. "It is. And it's awesome. Some of the things in here are really cool. I mean dark. But cool." Harry decided not to freak out. This wasn't like last year when he was going through the maze with Ron and Hermione. No one was going to die from talking. And Draco didn't seem like he was going to turn them in. If he was, Harry was sure that Draco would have called his father by now. At least that's what Harry hoped.

"Better not talk like that in front of the press Potter." Draco's voice held just a hint of mocking. "They'll say you're the next dark lord!" That surprised Harry and Ryou. A joke, Draco Malfoy had just told a Joke. The amused smirk he was giving them was unsettling. It also made it hard to tell whether or not Draco was mocking Harry this time.

Ryou sighed. He wasn't sure how this was going to end. But he would try to 'go with the flow' so to speak. This was a technique that Harry seemed to have mastered. "You wouldn't happen to know how we can get to Daigon Alley from here would you." Ryou asked hopefully. He wasn't sure if Draco would help them but it would be nice if they didn't have to find their own way back to the others.

Draco nodded. "In fact I do." Draco motioned towards the door. "Normally I'd just let Potter fry. But I owe you one after you helped me get back to the Leaky Cauldron last winter." Draco informed. "Father expects me to be gone when he comes back out anyway." The blond was at the door now. "Well come on then! Don't just stand there like Crabbe and Goyle!"

Harry grinned and dragged Ryou after Draco. "Right, I'd hate for us two smart blokes to look like those hulking trolls!" He laughed and left the store first. Ryou allowed himself to be dragged out alongside Harry. Draco followed them both as he rolled his eyes.

The two Muggle-raises second years observed the alley outside in mild surprise. In a way, they had been expecting something like it. And in one way or another they had both been in worse surroundings. Nocturne Alley was very different from its bright and colorful counterpart. Everything was run down and dark looking. The surroundings oozed with Dark magic. Not much sunlight got past the towering buildings, causing the immediate surrounding area to look even more gloomy and unsettling.

Many of the shops had peelings paint almost grey wood it was an unwelcoming vibe all around. The roofs were painted black and no one paid them any attention. Those who did notice them shot them nasty looks. Clearly they thought that this was no place for Children. Ryou tended to agree with those people. He'd rather not be in such a dark and creepy place. Though Ryou had to admit to himself that he had woken up in places similar to this once or twice whenever Bakura had felt the need to do something nasty.

And so they began their journey through Nocturne Alley and back towards Daigon Alley.

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><p>The three boys staggered out of the entrance to Nocturne Alley. Harry was slightly dazed, not sure whether or not what had just happened was a good thing. That had been interesting to say the least, considering they had been approached by some creepy people about buying some less then legal things. Along with the fact that the entirety of Nocturne Alley probably knew about the chaos they caused by now. It wasn't like it was even their fault. Plus none of it could be traced back to them specifically. But they certainly couldn't go back there for a few hours. All in all Harry decided that had been pretty fun. He grinned at Ryou and Draco. "We should do that again!"<p>

While Draco on the other hand was horrified, he hadn't known that kind of thing was humanly possible. They had almost been killed by a falling Bat nest made from _Poison Needles_! How does something like that even happen? Draco was honestly terrified of what other horrible situations Harry's luck could land him in. "Do that again?" Draco asked terrified. "Are you mad? There's no way I'm ever going anywhere with you again! You have got to be some sort of universal trouble magnet! I value my life to much too ever travel in your direct company ever again!" Draco quickly backed away from Harry looking around as if some sort of horrible beast would swoop down from the sky and devour them. "I got you two back here and that's where our deal ends! I hope I never see you outside of school again Potter!" Draco ran as far away from Harry as fast as he could.

Ryou was almost traumatized. If Bakura hadn't have put him through many similar horrible places or tasks. He probably would have had a panic attack when that shopkeeper tried to cut off their hands after they had accidentally knocked a cart of fireworks over. Which had started a chain reaction that ended up sending half of the extremely magical fireworks through the Shopkeepers large glass window, Bakura was _still _laughing about that. Ryou prayed to any god that would listen to him in hopes that nothing more awful happened to them today. He had been through one too many horrible situations in the last few hours then he deserved.

Harry laughed. "Merlin Malfoy is such a wimp eh Ryou? Well come on. We better go find everyone else." He yawned dragging Ryou off before the other Gryffindor could get a word in edgewise.

It didn't take them long to find their friends and tell the story of what had happened and how they got back. Once they got caught up to where everyone else in their school shopping the group headed to Hermione's most favorite place in the Wizarding World. The bookstore Flourish and Blotts where they would buy their school books, and where the famous warlock Gilderoy Lockhart was signing copies of his new Autobiography, Magical Me. Not that any of the boys particularly cared about that last bit of information.

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><p><p>

She watched her dad and Mr. Malfoy fight in shock. She hadn't known her dad was capable of throwing punches like that! Hermione had dragged her off to the side while the boys were encouraging it. Hermione was at this point _ignoring_ it and picking up books that were on their lists off the ground. Most of the shelves had been knocked over when the fist fight began. But as She was about to put a charms book in her Cauldron she noticed something sticking out of her Transfiguration book. It was a small black book about the size of a dairy. It was empty. It must have been on sale. She concluded. She also deduced that it must have fallen in with her things when all of those other books fell. The start of the fight had knocked a lot of things over. She quickly put it on the nearest shelf. She didn't want to get in trouble for stealing.

She noticed that her Mum and Hagrid had broken up the fight. That meant it was time to go. She wondered if Ms. Malfoy would yell at Mr. Malfoy once he got home. She didn't think Ms. Malfoy was that kind of wife. So she guessed that Mr. Malfoy wouldn't get the tongue lashing that her dad would once they got back to the Burrow. She didn't even think again about that silly little black book as the group she was with left the store.

Ginny Weasley couldn't have possibly known that the little black book wasn't for sale. Or that it had been carefully placed in her Cauldron by Lucius Malfoy. And she wouldn't have ever dreamed that the little black book would cause so much trouble in the near future. Even if it wasn't going to be in her hands, as it had been intended to be.

The little black book which at this point seemed so innocent just lying on a shelf would later be picked up by another person. A person who's fate would be much less kind then that of Ginny's had she taken the little black book home with her. Ginny's choice, no matter how insignificant it seemed at the time, would someday soon be the catalyst of the change that would affect the entire course of history as they would have known it.

Because that little black book, which had seemed so silly and harmless, was hiding a dark and powerful secret.

**Note!**

**Last chapter. Both for today and for this story. I know it's ending was kind of abrupt and kind of with a cliffhanger. But I hope you'll forgive me! I couldn't resist adding the last section. It was just too good to pass up.**

**I hope you all forgive me for the slight cliffhanger and for the extreme lack of Shadow games in this story! I'll try to make up for it in the next one!**

**Farewell until next time everybody! Drop me a review if you can~**


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